Father of girl killed over online dispute seeks end to teen violence

THE FATHER of a 15-year-old girl stabbed to death in the Netherlands, in a contract killing allegedly paid for by her 16-year-old best friend and her friend’s 17-year-old boyfriend, has written to judges and politicians appealing to them to help stop teenagers becoming more and more violent.

Chun Nam Hau was seriously injured on January 14th last when his daughter, Joyce “Winsie” Hau, was stabbed repeatedly on the doorstep of their home – allegedly by a 14-year-old “hitman” paid €20 to carry out the attack after a row on Facebook.

The attacker, known only as “Jinhua K”, who appeared in court in Arnhem on Monday and told judges he was “enormously sorry” for the killing, is due to be sentenced on September 3rd. He faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison, plus detention in a psychiatric institution.

Yesterday the court opened the cases against 16-year-old “Polly W” and her boyfriend, “Wesley C”, who allegedly paid for the killing after Winsie Hau posted comments on Facebook suggesting, to the amusement of their mutual friends, that Polly W was “loose with boys”.

However, both cases were suspended in order to hear missing expert witnesses whose evidence is likely to have a bearing on whether the two accused are tried as juveniles or as adults.

In his emotional letter to the judges, Chun Nam Hau wrote: “I ask myself every day how these people could have killed her just because of a dispute.

“I notice that children are becoming more and more violent. They are not respectful. They don’t think about others.

“I hope that you as judges, as well as politicians, parents and our entire society, will do something to stop this.”

The Netherlands, and in particular the Chinese-Dutch community, has been shocked by the tragedy, which has become known as “the Facebook murder case”.

However, last night the director of charity My Child Online, Remco Pijpers, said it was unfair to use the tag “Facebook” in association with the case – as if the social networking site had been in some way at fault.

“Facebook may have been involved in this particular case, but in reality this was a case of bullying on the internet. It could have happened anywhere.

“Parents need to be aware that it is very hard for teenagers if derogatory things are said about them in front of their friends. This is an opportunity for parents to talk about it to their children.”